Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Does Anyone Care About Elena Kagan?

As Elena Kagan begins her second day of testifying, gallons of oil continue to flow into the Gulf, General Petraeus prepares to go before the Senate to be confirmed to redirect a messy war, immigration laws are being written in state capitals and the economy, well… So it’s no surprise that Americans are unusually uninterested in Elena Kagan’s nomination. According to a Gallup poll Americans are not tuning into this nomination at the same rate they did for the past four Supreme Court nominations. 24% of Americans have no opinion of Obama’s nomination for the highest court.

Even with rumors of her personal life looming, Elena Kagan still isn’t getting the same attention her predecessors did. There just may be too many things on the President’s desk and on the public’s mind to care this time around. With slipping approval ratings, this could be good for Obama— this could be one thing he could accomplish without public scrutiny.

But we shouldn’t be too fast to brush this nomination to the insides of newspapers and the backs of minds. The Supreme Court continues to hand down impactful and relevant judgments, shaping our laws and state of our union. Just yesterday the Supreme Court ruled that local communities can’t ban guns. That decision will undoubtedly affect many Americans’ everyday life, maybe more directly than the war in Afghanistan.

To score political points with judicial nominees is extremely difficult, both because factual and legal issues mix confusingly, and because nominees are generally unwilling to answer the juicy questions we have for them.

The things that have political bite will be the things that are discussed by politicians, and gain more prominence in the news.

But yes, you're absolutely right that whether guns are legal, affirmative action is permissible, and whether laws sanctioning abortion are constitutional, will have a potentially bigger effect on the country than the other controversies of the day.

If what Kagan is going to do is damage, then I hope she takes a wrecking ball to this country. Because the wall the current court has built to progress, common sense, and justice is so huge it'll take some fierce work to tear down.